Monday, July 20, 2015

Rondeau on Sunday/Peers on Monday

Sunday I went down to Rondeau. It turned out rather quiet for birds and butterflies even though I walked over 6 km.
Some Banded Hairstreaks were kicking around the milkweeds.

The old dump has a big stand of Common Milkweed. A number of butterflies were there, but no hairstreaks.

I went out marsh trail as well. Some Eyed Browns were along the way. I was hoping to catch sight of some sedge skippers, but none were along the trail. There is too much water to wander off trail this year!

Blenheim Lagoons had some shorebirds in the sprinkler cells. (Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers). The sprinklers were rather dry though. The ponds are very high as one would expect.

This evening I went for a walk around Peers Wetland. The "family" is doing well.

Near the end of the walk, I came across a nice butterfly. A Milbert's Tortoiseshell!

I cannot recall ever seeing one around the Wallaceburg area before. They are rare around here in any case. It is one of the prettier butterflies in my opinion.

2 comments:

I wonder why Milbert's are so uncommon in this area....they are often listed in reference books as common, and the larvae feed on stinging nettles which are fairly abundant. I agree that they are one of the prettier ones.

I have found them in Rondeau (marsh trail) a couple of times, and almost annually along McGeachy Pond, dike several times.I have never had them (as far as I can remember!) at any of the CA's north of Wallaceburg or any where near here. It is strange!